Special public prosecutor Amit Patel.
Special public prosecutor Amit Patel.
A special court designated to try the proceedings of the 2008 serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad handed the death penalty to 38 convicts and a sentence of life imprisonment till death to 11 others under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and the Indian Penal Code. The court on February 8 had convicted 49 persons and acquitted 28 others under various provisions of the Explosive Substance Act and Damage to Public Property Act as well.
Usman Agarbattiwala, one of the accused who was also convicted under the Arms Act, was additionally awarded one year of imprisonment. The jail term awarded to all the 49 convicts will run concurrently.
The special judge also imposed a penalty of Rs 2.48 lakhs on the 49 convicts.
Special Judge AR Patel awarded a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the family members of the 56 victims who died in the blasts. Judge Patel also granted Rs 50,000 compensation to those victims who suffered serious injuries and Rs 25,000 to those with minor injuries.
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The conclusion of the trial comes 14 years after at least 22 bombs exploded across the city of Ahmedabad in the span of one hour on July 26, 2008, including bicycles, parked cars, and also at the state government-run Civil hospital and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation-run LG hospital.
Of at least 24 bombs that were believed to have been planted, two bombs did not go off. The then relatively unknown Indian Mujahideen (IM) had sent emails to some media houses had claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The trial began in 2009 after more than 35 FIRs were merged and consolidated in one case which tried all the accused.
The jugdment which runs into more than 6000 pages has not yet been made public.
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